Page 49

Aster’s eyes widened slightly when the server approached. “Anything for you, ma’am?”

“Dogfish Head?”

“Coming up.”

Aster drinking a beer after a long night on her feet was simple. Fitting.

Aster eyed her. “What are you smiling about? Share with the class.”

“I like the idea of you drinking a beer.”

“You’re easy to please then. That show repeats almost every day. We usually open a cold one at the restaurant after closing. Mini-tradition.” She nodded a few times. She was nervous. Brynn could identify.

“It’s a really impressive restaurant. The dining room made me feel a little out of my element.”

“It is a nice place, but I was just thinking how great you looked there.” A pause. “I want to hear about you. Were you just suddenly interested in a little sightseeing? What brings you to Boston?”

Brynn understood that there wasn’t going to be too much preliminary conversation. Her presence begged some questions. “Oh. Well, Micah and I broke up, and I wanted to see you.” There. Like a Band-Aid.

Aster sat back in her chair. Her mouth formed the shape of anO. Her thumb moved across the pint glass the server had placed in front of her moments before. “Ah. Hell, I’m sorry. So you were looking for a way to distract yourself. Get away. Well, I’m glad you came. It’s—”

“No. I broke up with her knowing I was coming here. Because I was.”

Aster’s thumb went still. “She didn’t want you to visit.”

“I didn’t ask. I’m here for me. Us.”

The table went silent for what felt like far too long. It was enough time to make Brynn nervous, crawl around in her chair unsettled, and feel like maybe she’d stepped out onto a limb that was about to break beneath her feet. But she didn’t crawl out of her chair or demand a response. She simply waited. Aster deserved time to think and absorb what she’d said.

“Okay, I think I’m following, but I want to be sure.” Aster circled the rim of her glass with one finger. She did that thing that Aster did where she bit the inside of her cheek when she was working out acomplex thought. “When you say you had to see me. What do you mean?”

Brynn nodded. Aster needed words, clarification, and a clear reason for her visit. Aster worked with logic and truth. Brynn needed to give her just that. “The plain answer is this. From that night in the park on, I’ve questioned a lot about what it is that I want out of life. I had a chance that night. You—and correct me if I’m wrong—extended your hand.”

“You aren’t wrong.”

“But I wasn’t strong enough to join you there. I think I was still figuring out how to live my own life, that I couldn’t fathom taking on someone else.”

Aster frowned. “But you took on Micah.”

“Micah’s not you.” Aster raised her gaze. Brynn had her attention. “You’re a lot for me, Aster.” She stared at her drink trying to slow the words that continued to spill out. “You make me feel things in a new way. It’s overwhelming and all-encompassing. I can’t describe it if I wanted to.” Brynn marveled. “It started so slow. Crept up on me, really, until it got to the point where your words on a page, the image of your face, your lips, the way you see the world rose above everything else.” She raised her shoulders. “I couldn’t look away anymore. And so here I am.”

Aster’s hands went to her knees beneath the table. She met Brynn’s eyes with a direct stare she never could have executed when they first met. It did things to Brynn now, Aster in control. Her breath caught. Her hands trembled. She set the glass down to make it less obvious.

“I don’t want you to look away,” Aster said. She blinked, and Brynn swooned a little at the long dark lashes. “All I want to do is kiss you in the middle of this damn bar.”

Okay, the swoon had been premature because those words brought a heat that Brynn was not used to. She crumbled beneath it, imagining Aster doing just that. She still remembered what her lips felt like, the way she tasted. She’d shoved it all aside back then, but the memory had come roaring back with a vengeance recently.

Brynn nodded, but no words emerged. She sipped her drink, her eyes never leaving Aster’s. “I don’t know about this bar, but I do have a key and a room.”

Aster watched her, remaining very still. “Are you inviting me up?”

“Mm-hmm.” The level of eye contact was surely something someone should document. They were locked in. “I am.”

Aster took a swallow of her beer, raised her hand for the check, and Brynn smothered a smile. The anticipation of being alone with Aster, whether they talked for hours, kissed, touched, or just watched each other from across the room, was slowly undoing her. Her legs felt shaky in a really good way.

The ride on the elevator was silent. They stood at opposite ends. The tension in the small space was like a guitar string pulled tight. When the doors opened, she took Aster’s hand in hers, placed them both behind her back, and led down the hallway to her room, scanning the key, and allowing them entry.

She released Aster’s hand and walked farther into the room. “Pretty standard setup. There’s a couch if you want to sit and talk. I have a bottle of wine we could open.”